SB 2135 Mississippi Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Juror qualifications; clarify qualified electors must be active voters to be competent jurors.

SB 2135 clarifies that to serve as a competent juror in Mississippi, a qualified elector must be designated as an active voter in the state's election system, replacing the previous requirement of simply being a "qualified elector." The bill does not change existing requirements like residency, literacy, or criminal history checks, but adds this active voter status as a new qualification. It directly affects potential jurors who are registered voters but not currently active in the election system. The law also maintains the process where judges verify literacy by having jurors complete a written form before service.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Mar 2026
Introduced Feb 11, 2026 Signed Mar 19, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Introduced As Passed the upper · 3 edits
MINOR
The Senate passed version of SB 2135 expands the bill's scope beyond its original purpose of requiring active voter registration for jury competency. It now also removes the outdated disqualification of being a 'common gambler or habitual drunkard' and replaces it with a modern standard: a juror must not have a substance use disorder. This modernizes jury eligibility language by replacing pejorative 19th-century terms with a clinical diagnosis-based criterion.
ELIGIBILITY

The disqualification for being a 'common gambler or habitual drunkard' is deleted and replaced with a requirement that a competent juror does not have a substance use disorder. This swaps an outdated, informal standard for a modern medical/clinical one.

SCOPE

The bill's stated purposes were expanded in the Senate to explicitly include deleting the common gambler/habitual drunkard requirement and adding the substance use disorder requirement, beyond the original voter registration clarification.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting changes to line breaks in the juror questionnaire section (home address field).

Floor votes · Senate Feb 9, 2026 · House Mar 10, 2026

How they voted

520
Passed
Total votes 52
Feb 9, 2026
D Democratic18
18 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican34
34 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
12
Key actions
6
Committee
4
Amendments
1
Mar 19, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor
executive
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
Feb 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Title Suff Do Pass
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Committee
Referred To Judiciary B
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Introduced
Transmitted To House
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed As Amended
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Amended
upper
Jan 29, 2026
Upper · Passed
Title Suff Do Pass
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred To Judiciary, Division A
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Joey Fillingane
Joey Fillingane
RRepublican
MS
41